Newsweek and The Press Defense

You all may recall yesterday's post about Newsweek and the mainstream media's efforts to circle the wagons and protect their own by waging a verbal battle with White House press secretary Scott McClellan. It turns out that first reporter to raise the issue was ABC's Terry Moran, who had the guts to go on Hugh Hewitt's radio show yesterday and discuss his questions with Hugh. The transcript provides some insight. There's two exchanges I particularly found enlightening...

HH: I've been a broadcaster for fifteen years. I know demagoguery when I hear it. That's not.

TM: But you practice it.

HH: I do not practice it. I practice good journalism, which is to represent I'm no better than any other American citizen. As a journalist, I don't have...

TM: You're no better than any other American citizen?

HH: Absolutely not. And if the president wants to criticize me, if a Democrat...for example, when Bill Clinton went after Rush Limbaugh, I didn't mind that at all. That's just fine. Rush got a great deal of attention out of it, and the criticism falls where it may. I don't understand...

TM: Well, I defend Rush Limbaugh as well from that.

HH: Why are you guys so thin-skinned? Why don't you understand the contempt the White House press corps is held in by the American public?

TM: Well, I do understand that. I understand it both on the right, people who don't want any kind of challenge to the president they support, and people on the left who think we went easy on the president.

The implied point in Moran's question to Hugh is that he does think he's better than the rest of us. Yeesh -- is there any wonder people don't like the media? There's a fair point to be made, which is that one can counter-balance my points and the views of the man on the street against those of Moran by comparing our resumes to that of Moran, who's had years of experience working in the media around the world.

But Moran's nuts if he thinks that the media practices some black art beyond the ken of the average person. Press people may be able to bring additional insight to an issue related to media ethics, but they don't hesitate to hammer other professions when the opportunity presents itself. Plenty of journalists are perfectly willing off their opinions on activities taking place within other professions without having the necessary expertise to do so. I actually don't have a problem with that, as long as they don't pretend that they're offering straight news. But I don't think I need to be working within the media industry to reach the conclusion that Newsweek was wrong.

There's an even more revealing quote later in the transcript (emphasis added)...

HH: Let me ask you something. Major K, a major in the Army who is reporting from Iraq on his blog all the time says, all this being said, it is no small wonder that a gulf has opened between journalists and the general public. I think even the most John Q. Sixpacks know when they are being fed a line of blank blank blank. My brother called me a journalist once during a conversation about this blog. I was offended. That is a general impression among the American military about the media, Terry. Where does that come from?

TM: It comes from, I think, a huge gulf of misunderstanding, for which I lay plenty of blame on the media itself. There is, Hugh, I agree with you, a deep anti-military bias in the media. One that begins from the premise that the military must be lying, and that American projection of power around the world must be wrong. I think that that is a hangover from Vietnam, and I think it's very dangerous. That's different from the media doing it's job of challenging the exercise of power without fear or favor.

Wow. Give Moran credit for admitting this. Now let's see if the press can report it and understand that it's part of the reason the American people hold the media in such low regard.